7 Thethi-rd Bafonis bounded,on the Welt by the Mexican coaft, on the South, by
that of.T’erra-Firma, to the Eait and Well by chains of iflands: if we compare it‘ i
with the two others, .we_ough_t~Ito give it the name. of the.Soutl9er_n Bczfozz. [The Spaniards,jwhb.ﬁrl’t_di{‘coverecl the fea which is on the other ﬁde of thetlfthmus of Panama, gaveit the name of the South-Sea, and calledthat’ of which we are fpeal<~ ing‘ the ,No_rth:Se.a. Ithas been fometimes called the Cariébean-Sea, which name it would be better to adopt, than to leave this fpace quite anonymous. It fpreads
from Eaft to Welt, and the ocean breaks _-in through a great number of inlets between A
._the‘ Caribbee Iﬂands; Its waters, which may; be {aid only to‘ Hide along the coaﬂ: of Terra-Firma, beat upon the Mofquito ﬂiore, and that of’ Co{’ta' Rica, which are -directly oppofed to its aétion, with great violence: thefe coafts, of confequence,vare overﬂowed, and cut into great lagoons and lakes.‘ The ravagesof the watersare equally_fenﬁble in the fea, which is full. ofsfhoals and fands. The openingofr this Bafon, between Cape Gracias a Dios andajamaica, is quite ﬁlledwith fand-banks,‘
loaded with rocks and little iflands. , The environs of the Cape, efpecially about g5 A
leagues off, thew nothing but overﬁown marks, the terrible number of which often deceive the elibrts» of the mariner who has got amongft them. . ‘ W T his is pretty nearly the phyﬁcal divilion of the Wei’:-Indian Sea. The diviﬁon ofthe illands which bound it on the ﬁde of the ocean appears more complicated-, it is founded on their refpeétive ﬁtuations, or on the relations that the courfe of naviga- tors has produced. vWe {hall begin this dijviﬁon from the South. ‘ From the 1 1th degree to: the.18th of North Latitude is a crooked chain, lying near1y,N. and N. N. W.,of »frnall;il1ands, of which the ‘largeft isIhardly .18 leagues long. Thefe the ﬁrft difcoverers called the ;1ntiZar,. or Forward Iﬂaends, becaufe they really form a barrier advanced towards the ocean. The Spanilhnavigators,‘who\
traverfed through the little channels that feparate them, to pafs into the inner, part M
of the Weft-Indian Sea, diftinguilhed themlby the general name of Windward Iflands, and at the 1;a,;tjne time called thofe the Leeward Iflands, which lay from Eaﬁ: to Well: along the coat’: of Terra-Firma, from the molt Southern pallage to Cape Chichibacoa, or,Coquibacoa,-if we adopt the vicious appellation of failors. The winds, which almolt always blow Eafierly, fhew naturally this diliinetion between the illands which he more to the Eaft, and thofe which are more diflant. The Antilles, ‘or Windward Iﬂands, are (‘till called Caribbee llfles, from the name‘ of the ﬁrfc inhabitants", exter-
minated a long time ﬁnce by the C.hril’t‘ians of Europe; the unfortunate remains of 4
Whom, mixed with forne Negroes, whofe anceftors weregfreed by‘them and/ifaved fijorn fhipwreck, have lately fallen under the yoke in the Iﬂand of St. Vincent. 4 At the 18th degree, the ‘curvature of the Caribbean chain ends. a This rounding
mgompreh’ends feveral {mall iﬂands, which the Englifh call th.e'Leeward Caribbees.‘ ll At this ending the line bends all at once, and ﬂretches out to the E. and Ni‘Wr,
This lengthening affordsgus feveral diviﬁons. .. l L , , s s The iﬂands on_ the Eaft, which are the moft conﬁderableiof this fea, have been « �X V
' called,
inns C RI P T f o @�W 0.. THE WE: s *r;1"N in I " PV ��+ A �)S